Diplomatic Aspects of the #Endbadgovernance Protests: The Definiendum of the Display of Russian Flag
Bola A. Akinterinwa
The #EndBadGovernance Protest is the newest version of the 20 October, 2020 #EndSARS Protest. Both are decentralised social movements with politico-economic and security objectives. While the #End SARS protest demanded an end to police brutality in Nigeria, by particularly insisting on the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), because of its notorious and brutal abuse of the people’s rights, the #EndBadGovernance protested for ten days, August 1-10, 2024 and demanded for the reversal of the policy of non-oil subsidy, better governance, and political restructuring among others.
Like the 2020 protest, several people lost their lives under the pretext of hijacking of the peaceful protests by hoodlums in the 2024 protest. One major rationale for this is not far-fetched: Government was, and is always, aware of the likelihood of hijacking of peaceful protests, but always remained and still remains incapable of preventing the hoodlums from hijacking peaceful protests and looting. In other words, it is difficult to understand that Government knows there is a problem and yet it cannot strategise enough to contain the problem. This partly explains why some national and international observers consider that Government might actually be a major sponsor of the hoodlums.
And true enough, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) warned against any protests even though the protesters have the right to protest. The warning was given in light of the likelihood of hijacking by the hoodlums and loss of innocent lives. If the government was intelligent enough to know that there would be hoodlums and that they would be violent, why was the Government unable to also evolve preventive strategies? Without gainsaying, several innocent lives were lost as predicted. Property was destroyed. The hoodlums infiltrated the peaceful protesters, operated freely, destroyed government and public property, and looted privately-owned shops and businesses. Several protesters lost their lives. And perhaps most disturbingly, #EndBadGovernance protests not only took place effectively but also generated a fresh controversy, that of the display and waving of Russian flags the definiendum of which is hereinafter explicated.
#EndBadGovernance and Diplomatic Aspects
Unlike the #EndSARS protest which sought an end to police brutality, the #EndBadGovernance had a broader scope of objectives: ending bad governance which requires stoppage of institutional corruption, reversal of the oil non-subsidy, release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention. Political restructuring of the country, national security, stopping inflation and sufferings of people. Without doubt, all these demands have several international dimensions. For example, bad governance, because of its many implications, is not condoned internationally. Bad governance is when lives and property cannot be effectively protected. It is when fundamental human rights cannot be guaranteed. As a matter of fact, since the 1990 Franco-African summit held in La Baule, France, dictatorship has not only become a a conditionality for the grant of development aid to Africa, but also a definiens of good governance for which an unconstitutional change of government has become non grata.
The request for the release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, also has a diplomatic character. He has the nationality of Britain even he is an indigene of Nigeria. He was kidnapped in a terroristic manner, on a foreign soil, in Kenya, and flown to Nigeria. This made it the second time General Muhammadu Buhari would act as a leader and terrorist. The crating of Alhaji Umaru Dikko, Nigeria’s former Minister of Transport, at the Stanstead Airport in the United Kingdom in 1984, as diplomatic baggage was the first. Nnamdi Kalu is claiming the right of self-determination in order to carve out a Republic of Biafra out of the current Republic of Nigeria. Self-determination is a right and principle of international law. Even though he has jumped bail and is under court trial, the problem is that the Government of Nigeria, even before PBAT acceded to power in 2023, only respects court rulings and judgments selectively.
Again, the Government of Nigeria may be hostile to the idea of a Republic of Biafra, under the pretext of the constitutional provisions of non-divisibility of Nigeria and non-negotiability of national unity, the truth still remains that national unity cannot be coercively done. This is why people are asking for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. This is also why people, particularly the Patriots, are asking for a fresh non-manu militari national constitution. Even though international law prohibits intervention in the domestic affairs that fall under the jurisdictional competencies of other countries, the international community has much interest in Nigeria. The United Nations does not appreciate the dismantlement of any of its Member States. And more interestingly, the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu as a major dynamic of insecurity in the south-eastern part of Nigeria is of international concern, especially that the Federal Government, with heavy military intervention, has not been able to stop the people’s agitation for self-determination.
There is also the question of corruption. It is a critical matter in global economic governance. An international convention was done on it in 2003 and Nigeria took an active part in the making of the convention. Although corruption is not peculiar to Nigeria, Nigeria’s type of corruption is most disturbing because it is officially not taken as a big deal. This is in spite of the many institutional mechanisms put in place to fight it. The more the institutional mechanisms, the more individual and institutional corruption is deepened. Imagine, for example, how it will be said that billions or millions of Naira, the Nigerian currency, have been swallowed by a snake. Imagine the story of the Chairman of the NAHCON (National Hajj Commission of Nigeria), Jalal Arabi, and the secretary to the Commission, Abdullahi Kontagora who have mismanaged the 2024 N90billion hajj subsidy. The two of them overpaid themselves fraudulently under the pretext of operational costs. Reports by The Punch have it that a total sum of SR314,098 has been recovered from Arabi.
As explained by the ripples.com which relied on the reports of The Punch newspapers, ‘the EFCC alleged that Arabi overpaid himself and others, with the chairman receiving SR50,000 instead of the approved SR15,929. Three commissioners received SR40,000 each instead of SR15,929, while the secretary received SR30.000 instead of SR,14,336. Directors/Chief of Staff received SR30,000 instead of SR2,550’ (vide Mayowa Oladeji’s “NAHCON chairman, secretary in EFCC custody over alleged N90bn hajj subsidy mismanagement,” www-ripplesnigeria.com, August 15, 2024). This case is one of the recent manifestations of what a former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, told Queen Elisabeth II about Nigeria on 11 May, 2016 in the context of an anti-corruption summit to be held in the UK. In the words of David Cameron, ‘this particular president (PMB) is actually not corrupt,’ but ‘Nigeria is fantastically corrupt’ or one of the two most corrupt countries of the world. Afghanistan is the other country. And who says Nigeria is not the most fantastically corrupt in Africa, not to say in the world. This is one major dynamic of the #EndBadGovernance protest.
What about the controversy surrounding the salary of Senators? Do they earn N21million as monthly salary or not? The video interview of Mahdi Shehu is quite revealing: apart from the N17 million earlier disclosed by Senator Shehu Sani, Mahdi Shehu also said it is not simply N21m that is earned monthly by senators but also constituency project allowance of N500 million, which is paid directly into the accounts of the Senators and which is in conflict with the Procurement Act that requires due process: no public tender, no bidders, etc. Who determines what project to engage in is not known to the public. It is not even put as an underlined item of the budget. No project consultant. In the 2024 budget, N20 billion and 388m is provided for legislative aids. More disturbingly, N3 billion is earmarked for NASS car parks, and 4 billion for gymnasium, N15 billion for NASS hospital and only N2billion for the National Hospital in Abuja, etc. N15 billion was also allocated for NASS Library and only N983 million for the National Library. In the eyes of Mahdi Shehu, this is manifestation of an open fraud per excellence even if the Senators are making strenuous efforts to deny what is undeniable (vide News Central TV (@NewsCentralAfrica). The RAMC has not said much about this.
The issue of oil subsidy and its reversal, as well as national insecurity, also have international and diplomatic dimensions. So is economic inflation. On oil subsidy, its origin is traceable to the early 1970s when there was an oil price shock in 1973 and Nigeria was selling fuel to Nigerians below cost. This practice of subsidy was formalised in 1977 under the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo when the Price Control Act was put in place to regulate prices, including that of fuel. The problematic in this regard was, and still is, whether there has really been oil subsidy. From the perspective of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and a renowned virologist, Professor Tamuno David-West, there was no oil subsidy. He made the computations of the landing cost of redefined oil to the distributing point of filling stations and convincingly submitted that there was nothing like oil subsidy.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper on importation of refined fuel and fuel subsidy, he said ‘there are two questions: should there be subsidy or should there be no subsidy? My answer is capital no! If you go through the racket, I will tell you why subsidy is nothing but fraud. It is not just one-man business; there are many interests involved in the fraud.’ And perhaps most disturbingly, Professor David-West revealed that ‘when former President Goodluck Jonathan set up the subsidy Investigation Panel and I (David-West) was invited, I got my facts ready, that there should not be any subsidy. The time I wanted to present my facts at the panel, Jonathan said they shouldn’t allow me. If you have four refineries refining your crude in Nigeria, why do you import? This interview is quite self-explanatory, but the truth is not wanted. Oil subsidy is therefore a mega-fraudulent purport.
Display of Russian Flag: The Definiendum
The display of Russian flags cannot be easily separated from the international perception of Nigeria as a country of bad governance where leaders say one thing and are acting contrarily. For instance, General Muhammadu Buhari similarly held the same view that fuel subsidy was a fraud when he was seeking election as President of Nigeria. In 2011 he admitted that fuel subsidy was a fraud. However research findings have shown that, on becoming an elected president of Nigeria, the story changed completely as it was General Buhari who reportedly was paying the subsidies. Six trillion naira was reportedly paid as subsidies in 2023, while subsidy payment is projected to be N5.4 trillion by the end of 2024. In fact, in terms of comparison, PMB is on record to have paid more subsidies than all other presidents since the time of General Obasanjo. If subsidy was fraudulent in 2011 and it suddenly became non-fraudulent as from 2015, how does the diplomatic community perceive Nigeria? A truly fantastically corrupt country!
First, on Monday, June 29, 2023, Mr Garba Shehu, the ex-spokesman to President Buhari, said several subsidies were removed by the Buhari administration. As he put it, ‘the massive electricity subsidy, the fraudulent fertiliser subsidy, Hajj/Christian pilgrim subsidies… the diesel subsidy, the aviation fuel subsidy, LPFO kerosene, cooking gas and the other subsidy policies we found in place, (we) put them firmly on the ground… For those with short memories, many of those subsidies were all in place when President Buhari was elected to office in 2015. All those in place were gone by May 2023, including the annual fertiliser subsidy that weighed 60-100 billion naira…’ (vide “Fact Check: Did Buhari’s administration remove diesel subsidy as Garba Shehu Garba claimed?” by Bunmi Aduloju, Fact Check, the cable.ng).
Second, there is controversy over who actually removed oil subsidy: PMB or PBAT? Based on simple logic, it is PBAT and not as wrongly pointed out by the Daily Trust that it was PMB. The then ‘Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed said the Federal Government has made provisions for the subsidy payment (N3trillion) until June 30, 2023. If PBAT was sworn in on May 29, 2023, and if payment of subsidies was scheduled to last until June 30, 2023. PBAT’s announcement of subsidy belonging to the past means he actually ended to the subsidies. But was there really any subsidies? This conflicting information cannot but be of important concerns to the global community. It also largely explains the protests against the PBAT who promised to continue from where PMB stopped. Where PMB stopped is part of the Russian saga that PBAT is finding it difficult to address.
The most significant aspect of the diplomatic dimensions of the #EndBadGovernance protest is the display of Russian flags during the protest. It has raised many questions on the intentions of the carriers: is it a call for Russian intervention? Is it a call for unconstitutional change of the PBAT’s government? More importantly, what is the message that the protesters wanted to communicate to the government and people of Nigeria? Answers to these questions cannot be well understood without explaining the definiens and the definiendos. Put differently, the display of Russian flags, a symbol of Russian sovereignty in another sovereign country that Nigeria is, needs to be well defined and articulated, by investigating the determinants, so as to be able to formulate how best to respond to the challenges posed beyond the legal dimensions.
In this regard, at the epicentre of the definition is Russia and its national flag at display during the #EndBadGovernance protest against the government of PBAT. At the domestic level in Nigeria, the definiendum is undoubtedly a corruption-driven bad governance and total disregard for the rule of law, especially court rulings and judgments. For example, it is the Nigerians put in official positions to ensure national growth and development, peace and security, and more importantly, to evolve a Nigerian society that is completely free from political chicanery, religious bigotry, and ethnic chauvinism that are precisely milking Nigeria dry. When they loot, they do so very recklessly and their local communities celebrate them with traditional chieftaincy titles. The more the ill-gotten funds, the more the honour and societal recognitions. In fact, the acquiesced style is to embezzle public funds and then later arrange to set ablaze the office where the relevant documents are kept. Many cases of this type of corruption abound in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, when cases of fact-finding of embezzlement of public funds are to, or are being investigated, particularly in the National Assembly, accused persons always faint or slump in order to distract attention from the enquiry. And true enough, when the #EndBadGovernance protest was on, the case files of former Governor of Kano State, and the incumbent Chairman of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, were reportedly found missing in the law court. Recall that in 2018, there were video reports in which Umar Ganduje accepted bribes. He was condemned by the people of Nigeria and taken to court for prosecution. While the court case was still on and people are still waiting for the outcome of the investigations on the stolen files, media reports have it that PBAT has recommended the same Mr. Ganduje for ‘Ambassadorial Role Amid Corruption Trial.’ How will Umar Ganduje be perceived internationally and by other ambassadors of his category?
Secondly. And without jot of doubt, National Flag is an important symbol in international law and relations. Its importance can be gleaned from the perspective of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In its Article 20, the Convention stipulates that a ‘diplomatic mission and its head shall have the right to use the flag and emblem of the sending State on the premises of the mission, including the residence of the Head of Mission, and on his means of transport.’ This provision should be understood in light of other articles that provide for the inviolability and protection of the person of a diplomatic agent and particularly, the Chief of the Mission.
For example, Article 22 (1) says ‘the premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agencies of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the Head of the Mission. When the National Flag and the emblem of the country are openly and clearly displaced, the law enforcement agents in the receiving State cannot have any luxury of excuse of not knowing that the building is internationally protected, that it is exterritorial, and that it is a no go area unless without prior consent of the Head of the mission.
The same is true of the means of transportation of the Ambassador. The National Flag is normally flown in his or her car to indicate that an internationally protected person, and for that matter, the Principal Representative of another sovereign State, is inside the car. Law enforcement agents are not supposed to arrest them, violate them. Thus National Flags are an embodiment of political sovereignty. It is because of its importance that protesters often try to acquire the national flag of the country they are protesting against in order to burn it publicly just to send messages of protest and disregard.
Another aspect of the issue of National Flag is who can display it in his or her private car. Under normal circumstances, it is only official vehicles that can so do. Many people, in the case of the Republic of India for example, do not want to fly the National Flag of their country for fear of not allowing it to become dirty. In other words, their National Flag deserves utmost respect. Some others consider such display of the flag as an expression of patriotism. The controversy surrounding the National Flag was to the extent that, in 2003, the matter had to be referred to the court for interpretation and decision by Mr Navin Jindal. The Supreme Court of India ruled on 23rd January, 2004 that ‘the display of national flag by every citizen of India is a fundamental right.’ The court’s judgment encouraged Navin Jindal to set up a Flag Foundation of India in appreciation of the importance attached to the Indian National Flag. It is against this importance of any National Flag that the display of the Russia’s National Flag during protests against the Government of Nigeria should be explained and understood.
Put differently, does the display of Russian flag imply a message from the Government of Russia? Was there really any Russian backing for the protesters even though Russian embassy has denied any involvement in the saga? Russian presence in Nigeria’s immediate neighbourhood has the potential to threaten Nigeria’s national security because of the emerging anti-Nigeria sentiments currently developing in the Republic of Niger. And perhaps more significantly, it should be recalled that when the #EndSARS protesters were brutally attacked in 2020, the general opinion of Nigerians was that there was no good basis for any military or forceful attack on peaceful protesters carrying or waving Nigeria’s National Flag. By waving the National Flag, they were in solidarity with Nigeria’s sovereignty. So displaying the Russian flag is an issue that must not be simply taken as a legal matter by seeking a court trial of the carriers of the Russian flag. The issue is how best to deal with protesters who are not Nigerians.
As reported by thisDaylive.com on 7 August, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) had arrested seven Polish citizens in Kano. The reason given by the DSS was that ‘for the persons we have picked up from Kano because of where they were found during the protest and display of foreign flags in Kano… They were picked as a result of security enforcement because of where they were when the incident happened. It is not a targeted operation on behalf of my Director-General and DSS and Nigeria. Some of the carriers of the Russian flag reportedly include Polish citizens. As foreigners joining Nigerians to protest against the Government of Nigeria and seen to be vandalising public assets, they have been arrested and prepared to be tried in the law court. The Polish embassy has officially denied the involvement of any Polish citizen in the #EndBadGovernance protest. The arrested seven Polish citizens are students who simply were there to take pictures of protesters according to the embassy.
The postulations of the Embassy of Poland and the DSS raise more issues and questions than answers. First, the Polish Embassy has sought the protection of its citizens within the framework of Private International Law because the arrested citizens are said to be students and not diplomatic agents. The protection being sought by the Embassy is only necessary if the Polish citizens have been denied justice or could not have access to justice. At this stage that the embassy is seeking the release of those arrested is therefore not proper. As students in Kano State, were the Polish students on the pavements of the street during the protests? Were they really caught holding or displaying the Russian Flags? Why were the students at the protesting ground and not elsewhere? Are the Polish students the only foreign students in their university? If we consider that the Polish students arrived Nigeria on August 1, 2024, when the protest began and are said to be in Nigeria for few weeks, there can be elements of truth in the hypothesis that the students were simply taking photographs. However, that assumption may not hold as they may still be here at the time of the protest to protect certain interests. True, Poland does not appear to be in tune with Russia because of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The action of the DSS is therefore commendable so far. If there is nothing found incriminating, the students should have their peace. That Nigeria is said to be fantastically corrupt does not mean the country is a theatre for foreign spectators.
